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Feb 24, 2025 IST 10:26:53

‘I still can’t believe': Samrat Rana reacts after becoming India's first world champion in 10m air pistol

Twenty-year-old Samrat Rana, hailing from Karnal in Haryana, made history by clinching the gold medal in the men’s 10 m air pistol event at the 2025 ISSF World Championships in Cairo, becoming the first Indian pistol shooter in an Olympic discipline to be crowned world champion, with a final score of 243.7, edging out China’s Hu Kai by just 0.4 points and also contributing to India’s team gold in the same event. He described the victory as surreal, saying “I still can’t believe it”, and revealed that he focused purely on his technique shot by shot, rather than watching the scoreboard. Rana’s route to success is especially inspiring: coached by his father and training on a home-built range in Karnal, he only recently made his senior international debut and had narrowly missed a major final just months earlierl, yet he held his nerve in a fierce final against the season-long dominant Hu Kai. The win not only marks a personal milestone but also elevates Indian pistol shooting, placing Rana alongside elite names like Abhinav Bindra and Rudrankksh Patil as world champions in Olympic shooting disciplines.
*This news was published by Hindustan Times on November 11, 2025.*

 

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